


Five times Mulder asked Scully to walk with him.... and the one time he didn't

by unremarkable



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Babylon, Domestic, Established Relationship, F/M, Five Times, Fluff, MSR, Short One Shot, Unremarkable house, babylon spoilers, mulder loves her very much, post-episode; Babylon, season10
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-16
Updated: 2016-02-16
Packaged: 2018-05-20 22:42:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6028140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unremarkable/pseuds/unremarkable
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Walk with me, Scully"  It's a thing they do.</p>
<p>Inspired by one scene in "Babylon"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five times Mulder asked Scully to walk with him.... and the one time he didn't

**Author's Note:**

> This is what The X-Files is doing to me... getting me back to writing fanfic after more than 10 years. I cannot believe I'm doing this!
> 
> Spoilers for 10x05 Babylon... Sorta.
> 
> Please excuse my mistakes since im in love with English but it is not my first language :)

\------ _ONE_ \------

"Walk with me, Scully" he says before she can even open the door to the little house. She is on the porch, arms full with a box filled with random things, car trunk open waiting to be unloaded.

He is just looking at her, arms empty and a grin lighting up his face.

"Walk where, Mulder? I'm dreaming about a shower but we should unload the car first and it's almost dark now and..."

He was prepared for her logic. So ready for it in fact, that he just smiles wider, gets the box from her arms placing it by the door and takes her by the hand in one smooth motion mentally and perfectly choreographed. 

She does not protest, smiles and goes down the stairs with him, fingers intertwined.

"And where do you want to go?"

"Nowhere in particular... I just thought if we ever stopped the car it would be so we could walk wherever we wanted to... And I don't know if you've noticed, Scully, but the car is stopped and parked."

Parked by our house, he adds in his mind. But he knows she hears because she smiles, stops and looks behind them: to the unremarkable house in the middle of nowhere, bathed in the last sunset colors, darkness at the ready but not quite fully there yet.

He knows it's not exactly their choice: he's a guilty man after all and just laying low until further notice but if he's completely honest with himself this imposed reclusion is not very far from his most sappy desires. He once told Scully, that, were the circumstances different, he would have loved to establish himself in a place like this. Well, the circumstances are indeed different now even if not the ones he had in mind back then, but if being really really honest circumstances stopped mattering at all a long time ago provided she was in the picture.

"Mulder? Hey, where have you gone?" she says, as on cue, bringing him back.

He doesn't answer, he just looks and looks at her and smiles. They've been back on the road for a few weeks now but he's still making up for all those months he couldn't look. He's never going to get tired of that, sometimes he fears it's going to consume him, but even then he thinks it would be worth it.

"It's nice, isn't it?" he says after a bit "Even if it's the middle of nowhere."

"It is. Nice, I mean! Walking, being here." she answers.

"Think we should start raising pigs and goats? We sure have the space!" 

She laughs and playfully punches him in the chest with their joined hands.

"I think it's a little more complicated than that, Mulder" she smiles and goes for a quick kiss never letting go of his hand "Lets walk back home, it's getting dark and you know the night is surprisingly dark out here."

He laughs. Relaxed and happy.

"Yeah, lets go back and unload the car."

"Tomorrow, Mulder, there's time tomorrow for that."

Time for unloading and settling down. Time to decide what to do about the future. About the big scheme of things and all the little ones.

Time for walking.

 

\------ _TWO_ \------

The morning is bright, he hasn't been able to sleep and she was restless too before she went to work. William's 2nd birthday and there is no amount of not talking about it that can erase that date from her face. Or from his face looking at hers.

He wakes up, showers and goes down to have breakfast. Later he will go for a run and try to ease his mind a bit so he can comfort her and himself every way he can.

It's when he is getting back from his run that he notices the anomaly in the pattern: Scully's car is parked in her spot and the day is not over yet.

"Scully!" he calls her from the bottom of the porch's stairs "Scully?"

He doesn't get to the top before she appears at the door, face a bit blank, eyes clouded with all the things in her mind.

"Hey" she says and meets him mid stairs with a kiss and not a single word more. Silence heavy.

"Walk with me, Scully" he says looking at her and she smiles acknowledging the gesture.

"You stink, Mulder" she answers, but she takes his hand anyway and they go down the stairs, turning left and going for their usual walk.

They go on in silence for a bit, his sweat is getting dry and cold and a sudden wave of wind gives him a chill.

"It's just a date, I know it's silly..." Scully finally says after walking for a while, the little house almost lost in the distance.

"It's not just a date and it isn't silly at all." he says, stopping them and taking her other hand too. "I don't let my mind wander much about it but sometimes, some special days, I cannot help but picture him here with us, wonder if he will grow up to like sunflower seeds and if he could put up with my daddy jokes when he is older. It's normal, and human..."

She takes their joined hands and kisses them, a tear ready to make an appearance any time now.

"Hey" he adds upping her chin towards him "I know I've told you before, but you were the most selfless, bravest person doing what you did. Never doubt that."

"Thank you" it's the only thing she says before going back to walking. 

 

\------ _THREE_ \------

They are sitting in the porch on a random Sunday morning. He's goofing around in the computer while she is reading some paper from the hospital. 

A really dull and wonderfully normal morning in what have been their lives these past years if not for the fact that it is the first Sunday after "going back". Just a peek at the old ways but he can still feel her being shaken up and worried about the darkness, about before disturbing their now: the chance of more losses, of more pain now that they have found a balance and have each other in every single way.

He's worried too: he's been so happy just being there all these years, just having breakfast with her, going to bed with her, having stupid conversations with her, meaningful moments, memorable fights... Not even the closer and closer impeding doom is going to stop him enjoying that. He's the master of self-hatred but even he thinks they deserve it.

He loves her. A little bit more each day. He will implode from it any day now and will still be worth it.

"Scully" he says, an idea taking over his brain.

"Mmm" she answers but she's still reading. Glasses indicating they are not getting any younger.

"Hey" he insists looking at her "Walk with me, Scully." 

That makes her curious. It's become a little of a thing between them when the nothingness is too much or just when they want to get away for a bit. He's a free man now, so they could go places more interesting than their backyard, the forest or the lake, but he loves their routine, this secluded world they have created like a cocoon.

She takes her glasses off and smiles, getting up and leaving the paper over the chair.

"Sure, Mulder" she offers her hand and he takes it and gets up too letting himself be guided towards and down the stairs. Their usual path.

"Marry me" he says before reaching the last one. And she gasps from below, height difference accentuated by the unclimbed step.

She is truly taken aback for a second there looking at him, trying to see if he is serious. He hasn't been so serious in his life and she realizes pretty fast, face softening, smile on her face.

He climbs down the last step and smiles too, just looking at her like the fool he is... personal space forgotten a long time ago.

"Well, Mulder... Usually we wait a few feet down the road to start talking and I was thinking you were going to suggest dinner and a movie now you can go into town, I believe there's a movie about a space robot that's getting amazing reviews. This is... unexpected."

Their grins match.

"I promise to take you to the movies once you make an honest man of me... If... you wanna make a honest man of me."

"Yes" she says and goes for a kiss, but he stops her.

"Yes what?" he jokes.

"Yes, I will"

"Will what?" he can't seem to stop dwelling in this moment even if he's hurting from smiling too much and burning with the desire to kiss her.

"Will make an honest man of you, for better and for worse"

That makes it and he cannot tease her anymore. They kiss for a long time. They stop then start again and repeat until one of them leads the way walking up the stairs.

 

\------ _FOUR_ \------

They are sitting at the kitchen table, linked hands over it. Everything silent except for the light wind tapping the window and a soft tune coming from the radio on the other side of the room.

December 21st 2012. 23:45. Dawning of invasion day coming to an end... and not a single UFO, smoking man or exploding city to account for.

They don't speak but they are restless, hopeful and fearful, relieved and a little bit disappointed in a weirdly disturbing way.

He gets up suddenly, going towards the door and putting on his coat and winter gear.

"Walk with me, Scully" he says opening the door and throwing her gloves at her.

He's out in the porch by himself for a few minutes before she appears, ready to battle the cold, the snow and the darkness (she's bringing a flashlight) of the West Virginia December night.

"C'mon then" she says offering her free hand. The big gloves and the darkness adding a layer of novelty to their shared ritual.

They climb down the stairs and start walking over fresh snow. She's the first to talk.

"I guess the world isn't ending tonight"

"Should I kiss you then?" he answers smiling.

"Always" she says, but they don't stop to, just keep walking.

"I'll save it for when it's midnight over the west coast, Scully, I don't wanna take any chances."

He laughs at his own joke and she does too. They stop then and look at the clouded sky.

"You don't think they cancelled due to bad weather, right Mulder?"

He chuckles even more at that and when she loses it too he cannot help but hug her and kiss her head.

"I'm just so so very happy we have more time, Scully."

 

\------ _FIVE_ \------

He was going to ask Scully to stay. After he got the courage to ask her to walk with him. After she didn't hesitate when he took her hand. After she held on and walked with him.

He thinks she expected him to ask, and he almost did... but he got a sign from above: loud and clear.

Signals... who is he kidding? He just got scared that after these past weird two months of the strangest estrangement ever, that step would have been too much too soon. That she would have said yes for all the wrong reasons (the x-files, her mother, his "new spark"...) and gone back to the sad, worried eyes of the months before the day she told him they needed some distance once she would have gone back to their house.

He understood the logic behind her reasons to leave back then. They hurt but he knows her better than anyone and he saw why she thought it was the best for him, for getting him back: he had been losing purpose during the last year and it was getting harder and harder to recognise himself. Scully, being the only constant in his life, was afraid she was holding him back, preventing him from taking any actions that might maybe upset their status quo.

His mental state made it impossible to explain to her that she was not holding him back but the only thing holding him together and so she left. Her things stayed as a promise... One he thinks she's ready to fulfill.

He goes back to trying to sleep but the couch seems to be growing bumpier every minute. He misses her so much he actually feels the pain and curses himself for being a coward.

Next walk. He promises himself. And her.

 

\------ ------

He books an Uber to go back to the office and is patiently waiting on the porch reading the morning newspaper on his phone when he hears the car arriving through the path.

He looks up and down the road and his heart skips a beat when he sees Scully's car making it home. She parks, gets out and smiles at him.

"I didn't take you for a fan of this new _sharing economy_ " he says, grinning.

"The FBI doesn't pay as it used to, Mulder... and I've developed some expensive needs in my old age, so I drive people who live too far away to commute."

She grins too and takes the stairs to the porch until they are so close their clothes are almost touching.

He looks at her for a long time and sees happiness, sees life... he sees her and misses her even though she's right there.

"Let me take my jacket so we can go." he says.

"No" she says taking his hand "Walk with me, Mulder."

It's such a small change in their routine. Small and meaningful.

"But the office is very far away, Scully" he jokes trying to act nonchalant while he takes the invitation walking down the stairs with her.

They don't follow their usual path and go towards the car instead. For a moment he is conviced they are going back to the Hoover, but she pushes the key's button and the trunk opens, the single suitcase she took with her when she left lonely in the middle of it.

"I wanna come back, if you'll have me." she says and his heart skips another beat, this will be the death of him "I don't think this approach is working and I miss..."

He kisses her because he is probably going to burn a whole in her face if he keeps just looking at her. He kisses her because it's been more than a month and feels like a lifetime. He kisses her because she came back, because he didn't scare her away.

He doesn't know how long they are kissing but they stop when the sound of a car breaks the silence.

"Fox Mulder?" the driver says "It's your Uber, sir."

He smiles and walks towards his driver, Scully not far behind.

"I'm afraid I won't make it today" he says happily "How much do I owe you?"

The driver is very confused while he takes the money and keeps looking at them like they are crazy... maybe they are a bit crazy, yeah.

"Are you sure you don't want me to drive you somewhere? This is very secluded."

"Yes, don't worry" he says taking Scully's hand and grinning like an idiot "We'll just walk."

**Author's Note:**

> When I saw the porch scene and the "Walk with me, Scully" I felt like it had happened before, so I tried to make it a "thing" between them. I had to get it out from my system, and thus this little silly thing was born.


End file.
